Abiel Osorio – Velez Sarsfield’s bullish striker

Abiel Alesio Osorio joined Velez Sarsfield at 15-years-old as his uncle, Aldo Osorio was a striker for teams like Huracan and Argentinos Juniors as well as teams in Italy and Spain. The 20-year-old has developed at a team that is well-known for producing talented players but also more recently, talented strikers as Florian Monzon and Mateo Pellegrino are two strikers that the Argentine produced as both are currently on loan and are only a year older than him. Osorio is currently accruing minutes for Velez Sarsfield in the Argentine Primera Division as he was one of the top up and coming young strikers in Argentina as there is currently a deep pool of strikers in Argentina under the age of 23 that have begun to make strides in 2022.

Osorio better known as ‘El Tanque’, which is a nickname given to an attacker with immense physical presence and power, is a bullish and multi-faceted attacking presence as he can receive possession with his back to goal, holding off opposition defenders as he can lay possession off to teammates or swivel to play progressive passes to runners. Osorio also thrives as a ball-carrier as his size, strength, quick feet and turn of pace make him a difficult force to stop when he gets into stride, driving the ball forward as he can weave into the box to create shooting opportunities for himself or create opportunities for teammates. His ability to evade a marker to create a shooting opportunity makes him a striker that is unique to all the young Argentine attackers at the moment while he is known to shoot from good areas which sees him lead most of his young counterparts in expected goals.

Away to Defensa y Justicia, he made a run into the right channel to receive possession, winning a tough shoulder to shoulder battle with an opposition centre-back before laying off possession to a teammate. Despite being in the early stages of his career and being an unrefined attacker, his wide array of tools allows him to be a striker who can drop deep to receive possession and connect play while also being able to stretch opposition defences with runs in behind. The ball moved to the right flank as Osorio was tucking inside from the left half-space, making a circular run around a centre-back before making a run in behind where he received a lobbed pass with his chest to mis-control the ball as in such situations, he uses his strength and turn of pace to get into good areas as his first touch to transition into shooting opportunities could be better. Osorio has the skillset to control the ball with his chest, hold off his marker to swivel and have a shot on goal as the 20-year-old has utilized this manoeuvre frequently in games since this situation.

El Tanque would receive possession from a clearance in the left channel, shielding the ball from a marker to spin and drive the ball forward towards the opposition box, evading the defender as the Defensa y Justicia man could only respond by yanking the back of his collar to stop him. His two-way ability allows him to be a transitional tool, receiving early passes in between the lines where he can receive possession with his back to goal and lay-off the ball or spin his marker and drive the ball forward to instigate an attacking move on his own as few young attackers mesh raw power, technique and acceleration like Osorio. The 20-year-old was playing on the shoulder of the last defender, receiving a long ball from the centre-back with his chest to lay-off to instigate an attacking move in the opposition half. The attacker then received a clearance in the right channel, surging forward with possession to attempt a pass into the centre which was intercepted. Osorio received a deep vertical pass into the nine-space to play a one-touch lobbed pass to the flank for a teammate to have a cross blocked.

Away to Godoy Cruz, the 20-year-old hold-up play was phenomenal, dropping deep to receive possession in between the lines before laying off with the outside of his boot as his team would lose possession for him to instantly retreat to win a turnover. After he won the turnover, he laid off possession before receiving the ball once more as he swivelled to attempt a through ball. He then moved into the channels to lay-off a pass for Emanuel Insua to cross for Diego Godin to head an opportunity off the crossbar. Osorio a such a hard worker in and out of possession, connecting play and driving the ball forward in the transition phase while leading the pressure phase. He received possession on the left flank, spinning past his marker to drive the ball forward, skipping past a second defender to play a brilliantly angled cross into the box. In the pressing phase, he is intelligent at closing down spaces while in the counter-pressing phase, he has the acceleration to track back to win possession as he has games where he gives so much of himself but does not participate as much as he should inside the opposition box.

Osorio would regain possession to weave out of a tight space to attempt to spread the ball to the flank as his pass was intercepted as in another situation, his team would regain possession and play a direct pass to him as he worked a nonchalant one-touch pass to the flank. There are situations where his first touch can be erratic, or he can receive possession in between the lines, holding play for too long before releasing the ball as there are other situations where he can be phenomenal in receiving possession in between the lines as he needs more consistency with this aspect of his game. ‘El Tanque’ can control passes in between the lines, turning to play the ball to the flank as he can string together attacking moves in tight spaces. Other aspects of his game that need refinement are his double-movements as the 20-year-old has tremendous acceleration as well as being able to hold his runs and make darts in behind but his double-movements to get on the end of crossing deliveries or move into space have only shown potential without great consistency. Osorio would regain possession in the counter-press to play a cross into the box for a teammate to head an opportunity wide. He finished the game with 3 tackles and 5/8 takeons as Velez Sarsfield as a team only had 1 shot on target the whole game.

Away to Union de Santa Fe, he received possession and lobbed a cross into the box as he made great runs but rarely had shooting opportunities from through ball situations. He received a cross while standing in an offside position to take a horrible first touch and fire into the side-netting before he received a through ball from Joel Sonora as he made a run in behind to cut past a defender and fire a strike at goal. Osorio then received possession in between the liens to lob a pass to the left flank as he repeated the trick, this time to lay-off a pass to a teammate. He will need to improve his dribble and shoot routines with more drill work as he is such an accomplished ball-carrier but needs to add more shots to his dribbling routines as this will increase the areas and angles where he can shoot from while he can also add little combination play sequences to these routines, evading a marker, working a connection to move into space where he can receive possession and have a shot on goal.

‘El Tanque’ received possession as he attempted to cut past a man, but his touch was too heavy, and he lost the ball before he had another sequence where he held off a marker to drive into the box, looking to spin past another defender as he was tackled. He needs to dribble with the purpose of setting up a shooting opportunity for himself as there are instances where he can hold the ball too long, attempting to evade the extra man instead of releasing the ball, while dribbling to shoot will add some direction to his dribbling sequences and will allow him to get more opportunities on goal. Osorio regained possession in a pressing situation after an opposition centre-back had a heavy touch for the 20-year-old to dribble the goalkeeper and send a shot wide. He made a run into the channels before stopping his feet as the ball rolled to him as the attacker had a poor first touch which denied him a shooting opportunity before he had a header saved from a corner.

Away to Lanus, the ball was on the left flank with Osorio positioned within the box in the nine-space as a defender was holding him as a back-pass was played for the young striker to move to the top of the box before spinning past a marker and making a run towards the six-yard area in anticipation of a cross when the ball was played back to the flank. He then dropped back into space and made a run towards the near post as a low cross was intercepted as Osorio’s ability to challenge his marker physically while moving constantly in the box exhibits potential for the 20-year-old to be a lethal presence inside the opposition box. He then moved into the left half-space to receive possession, turn and surge in between two players to drive into the box, attempting to drive towards goal before he was brought down, and no penalty was given. Osorio received a switch pass on the right flank to hold possession and work a pass to Julian Fernandez as he attempted to play a back-pass to Osorio for a shooting opportunity as a defender was on hand to make an interception.

A switch was played to the left flank with Osorio in the nine-space, moving towards the back-post to isolate a defender as he made a run to the near post to receive a low cross to attempt a one-touch shot which was blocked by a defender. The 20-year-old had another high-quality shooting opportunity when a pass was poked through to him as he attempted to place a shot to the far side of the goal, but the goalkeeper stretched and saved his opportunity. ‘El Tanque’ proved the wide variety of ways with which he can generate shooting opportunities on goal as he had shots from double-movement situations as he also had shots from dribbling situations in the past, but he has his best opportunities from through ball or run in behind situations. In another through ball situation, he made a double-movement inside his marker towards the centre before bursting on the outside to receive possession as he was tackled before getting up to drive through on goal and have a shot from a tight angle saved.

Osorio had a situation when he was playing on the shoulder of the last man, dropping into a pocket of space before making a run behind as his teammate decided to switch the ball instead of playing the ball to him. At home to River Plate, he came off the bench as he was positioned in the left half-space before dropping into a pocket of space and making a circular movement around his marker to receive a through ball and have a low cross blocked. The 20-year-old made another run in behind to receive a lobbed pass, this time using his body to shield the ball and cut-back before attempting another cut-back which was blocked. He would eventually score a goal, tapping a cross into an empty net at the back-post to level the score in added time. ‘El Tanque’ received a long pass from Valentin Gomez to flick the ball through to Lucas Pratto to establish a counter-attacking opportunity. At home to Gimnasia, he came off the bench again to receive a deep pass in between the lines before spinning to drive into the channel, cut inside and thread a through ball for a teammate to have a shot on target.

The 20-year-old made another run into the left channel, receiving possession to drive into the box and poke a tame shot at goal. He eventually scored, receiving a deep vertical pass in between the lines, cushioning the ball with his first touch for a teammate to have a shot at goal for Osorio to half-volley the rebound past the goalkeeper. In his own box, he would clear an opposition corner using his head before making a movement from the left to the right with a circular run around a defender for a lobbed pass which was too heavy for him. Osorio dropped to control a high ball and lay-off to a teammate before he received possession on the left flank, cutting inside, evading two defenders to lay-off a pass to a teammate. A long ball was played for Osorio to block a clearance and have a 1v1 opportunity with the goalkeeper which was smothered.

Away to Aldosivi, the 20-year-old was isolated up front, losing possession but managing to hold the ball as he struggled with his link-up play. ‘El Tanque’ would receive possession in the box, to hold-up the ball, turn his man and fire a tame shot at goal. As he received possession, he would rely on backing into his defender to hold up possession as his first touch was normally heavy while in another situation, he spun his man and had a pass intercepted. His movement in the box was difficult as Menendez would cut inside to work connections and create shooting opportunities as the duo were not in-sync. As Fernandez was surging forward with possession, Osorio was positioned in between the centre-backs, making a movement towards the back-post to receive possession as he attempted to square a pass across the box. The 20-year-old should have taken the shot with his first touch or utilized his first touch to get the ball out of his feet to have a shooting opportunity.

Osorio received possession in the channels to drive into the box and play a cut-back to a teammate before he would notch the equalizer, ghosting into the box to head in a corner to get his second goal in as many games. For expected goals, he is one of the leaders for young strikers in Argentina with a number of 5.14 and 4 goals this season. For expected goals per game, he is in the top 15 for all players in the Argentine Primera Division as the 20-year-old is in the top 20 for shots per game for U23 players. For touches in the opposition box per 90 minutes for all players in Argentina, he ranks in the top 10 according to WyScout ranking data.

Osorio is a striker that meshes power, pace and direct running as this allows him to act as a transitional tool in the front line, dropping deep to receive deep passes in between the lines, holding off his defender and laying off passes for teammates to string together attacking moves. The 20-year-old is also a talented ball-carrier being able to swivel past defenders and stride forward with a turn of pace as this will allow him to create his own shooting opportunities in the future. Osorio can make runs into the channels to receive possession, shielding the ball from his marker to cut past him and get into shooting situations while he frequently receives possession with his back to goal, swivelling past his defender to fire shots at goal as there are a few avenues that he can use to create shooting opportunities for himself. He will need to improve at placing shots on goal in his dribble and shot sequences as well as in his 1v1 situations. His movement in the box to get on the end of opportunities will also need to develop as he is an attacker that does not shy away from physical battles with opposition centre-backs as Osorio will need time and adjust his movements to receive the ball in better areas. There are early signs of this is in his game as he has scored goals from tap-in and rebound situations while he is also strong in the air. ‘El Tanque’ has the ability to lead the pressure phase as a mobile striker who has the core strength to outmuscle opposition players to win possession while he would also be strong in the counter-press, having the mobility to cover space and regain possession cleanly while he has the tools to start the next attacking move.

Osorio recently extended his contract until the end of 2023 as with Lucas Pratto aging and the need for Velez Sarsfield to rotate in between their Copa Libertadores and Argentine Primera Division responsibilities, the young striker has accrued more playing opportunities this season. With a deep pool of young Argentine strikers, the fact that Osorio is leading in expected goals out of the young attackers currently in the Argentine Primera Division means that the early signs are encouraging, especially as his game is not as refined as it could be. It would be best for him to remain at Velez Sarsfield for the next few years as there could be immense competition for playing opportunities in the future but it is the perfect place for him to accrue minutes while honing and developing his skillset.